For this trip we wanted to take the moms and Manny invited his sister Maria and their gang. So we had a full house! We wanted to hit up Red Coconut RV Resort, since we heard so many good things about it and how close it was to the beach. Another perk was that across the street the campground has more RV sites and rentals available. This was crucial for us because Maria’s gang consists of Maria, Pedro, Alex, Marianna, Mel, and Carolina. So we definitely needed a rental for the overflow.
Manny was slammed with work on the day that we were supposed to leave, so we left later than we wanted. Of course by the time Manny got home and brought the RV from my cousin’s house where we store it, it started to rain. Our luck ? is amazing! The upside to this is that the resort was only two hours away, so while we didn’t leave as early as we wanted, we knew it was a short trip to get to paradise!
As we got to Estero Island, the houses around us got bigger and nicer! It was a beautiful area and we had never been to this part of Florida before. The sun was starting to set and we arrived at the campground after the office had closed. Manny did an expert job as usual of parking the RV on the site once we found it. While we settled in and parked the RV, the moms had already made friends with fellow campers and they were having cuban coffee. Maria and the gang went to check out their rental trailer while we set up the camp.
We were going to give one of the air mattresses to Maria for the rental, but it turned out Miss Mona ??? decided to chew the air mattress to bits. Camping is all about plan B, C and D, so we had Alex and Mariana staying with us on the sofa and the dinette which both turn into beds. So everything worked out great!
The campout itself wasn’t as nice as Beverly Beach. You can tell it’s had better days, but the fact that we were literally two rows away from the beach was amazing! We got there too late, but usually during office hours you pull in and a tractor puts your RV right in your spot. As with all beach camping sites, they can be a little tight! While Beverly Beach was nicer, this resort had more space on your site and you didn’t have to face your neighbor like you do in Beverly Beach. So those were all pluses for us!
Once we had leveled the RV and gotten the basics set up, we walked over to the beach to check it out. The sand was so soft and nice. We could not wait till we got in the water the next day! When we got back to the camp, we met our neighbors in front of us. They were really cool and very friendly. The most amazing thing that we have discovered camping with our RV is that everyone has been so friendly and nice to us. Genuinely cool people.
Saturday morning we did an epic breakfast. We pulled in a picnic table from a site that wasn’t being used and Manny began to cook up one awesome meal! The mimosas were out, and everyone was fed and ready to hit the beach. Before we hit the beach Manny and I went to check-in since we had arrived so late the night before. Check-in was super quick and the staff were very friendly and helpful. While we were checking in, Peter and Caro went to the beach to set up our brand new outdoor canopy!
We filled up the cooler, grabbed our camping zero-gravity chairs and headed towards the beach. The canopy looked real nice once it was up. It was a snap to open up and set up. Once everything was up at our beach fort, we headed towards the beach. Unlike Beverly Beach it was summertime, so the water was nice and warm. The only issue was that there were tons of seaweed everywhere. Since we were at the Gulf Coast of Florida, the water wasn’t as clear as the Atlantic can be during this time of the year. We did have a great time though! ?️?️?️
While we were at the beach Maria was busy back at the RV cooking up some coconut shrimp on the air fryer. She surprised us and brought them out as appetizers. They were a hit! That snack opened up everyone’s appetite. So Manny and I headed back to the RV to start lunch service. Manny cooked up some hamburgers on the grill and we also put a bunch of chicken shish-kabobs that the moms had prepared at home the day before. ??? THEY FLEW LIKE HOTCAKES!!! In under 30 minutes there were about 3 kabobs left. With full stomachs, we gave them to our neighbors and they were devoured in seconds!
After lunch we had to run to the beach because it got real windy and our canopy was flying away. Peter tried to contain it before we got there but the canopy broke! We plan on returning it for another one. This was the canopy’s maiden voyage and it already busted from a little wind. That’s not good! Even though the canopy was broken, we made the best of it and soaked up some sun before we got ready for dinner.
For dinner we hit the Sunset Beach Tropical Grill by the pier on Ft. Myers Beach. Caro had gone there before and she highly recommend it. The little downtown area where the restaurant was located was very cute. There were little stores everywhere but we were all starving so we headed right to the restaurant. The food was really good! I ate so much I almost popped. The best part of the restaurant was the entertainment and the outdoor seating by the pier. There was a cover singer who was in one word: AMAZING. He did male and female songs. And all the while, he sounded exactly like the artist as he sang. It was wild!
We were all pretty tired from a long day at the beach, so we headed home to make some smores and espresso. Smores for the kids, espresso for the adults! We could barely keep our eyes open as we finished up the smores. We finally settled in and went to bed for the night. In the middle of the night Manny woke up and had to go outside and retract our awning. There was a crazy storm with lots of wind. When we woke up in the morning we had bits and pieces of the neighbors camp all over our camp. It was crazy!
The Red Coconut RV resort allows you to pay an additional fee for a late check-out. And that’s exactly what we did so we can enjoy the beach for one more day. We made breakfast and cleaned up the camp a little in preparation for breaking up camp later that day. Caro and Mel were playing ball on the sand and the moms decided to take a dip in the ocean. There was a lot less seaweed today. But of course, to compensate, the waves were pretty rough. The moms made it a couple of inches in before they decided to head back to land! Manny came in and joined us in the ocean after he cleaned up the RV.
After the beach dip, Manny and I went to go see Maria at her rental to check it out. It was a really nice one bedroom trailer that was very cozy. It’s definitely a great solution when you are camping with a large party like we were. We had paid for a late check-out, but Manny was getting very tired so we decided to break up camp and leave a little early. Our instincts were spot on because, as we were finishing breaking up camp, it started raining!
Once we had the RV hooked up back to the truck, we actually made a stop to Camping World in Ft. Myers which was nearby. We had a bunch of issues that needed to be fixed and we were covered by the warranty so we decided what better time than the present! Especially since we were so close to Camping World. So we left our baby at Camping World, and headed back home.
These short weekend camps that we do with the RV are great and fun, but it’s so rough to setup and breakup camp in such a short amount of time. Everyone was exhausted and ready to take a long long long nap when we got home. We swore that the next trip would be a little longer than a short weekend…
